DARPA proposes "one-shot" sniping system

DARPA, which you may know from the Urban Challenge, has thrown its research proposing muscle behind a program with the "aim" of making sniper's jobs easier. Ya see, one of the problems with flinging a hunk of lead over a mile into the distance is that external influences (like cross-winds) mean that a shot aimed and fired directly at a target will most likely go astray. Snipers are trained to compensate for these external influences by using math to calculate the perfect angle required to hit their target, be it a snipe bird, or an annoying robot. DARPA's aim with the new RFP is to solve this problem by creating a system that finds the "perfect angle" by digitally measuring all the required atmospheric information: an aimbot for real life, if you will. DARPA outlines the two existing solutions to the problem -- Laser Doppler Velocimeters and Coherent Doppler Lidar -- and instantly writes them off as inadequate "for this application", so if you're thinking of taking DARPA up on this challenge you should probably look into alternate sensor technologies. As the proposal is simply a suggestion that someone else should sort out the problem, there's no specific time frame as to when we could be seeing a sniper scope that tells snipers where to aim. Fortunately, someone's already created a computer system that tells soldiers what to aim at.

[Via Gizmag]

[chenry @ Jan 7th 2007 4:46PM]

Don't forget gravity.

[Chris Merchant @ Jan 7th 2007 5:01PM]

I smell hacks.

RealLifeSteamBans.com

Chris

[Spartacus @ Jan 7th 2007 5:08PM]

The funniest job robots will obsolete: military.

It's only a generation or two before we incorporate robotic sentries with this perfect aim capability and 'target' facial recognition software into one mean ass independent weapon.

What will the bottom 10% of the country do for a living when killing shit is gone?

[Nathaniel Meyer @ Jan 7th 2007 5:52PM]

"...an aimbot for real life, if you will."

I love you engadget.

[rocko @ Jan 7th 2007 9:06PM]

god I love DARPA, they do such cool things, like lasers and driverless cars and "battlezones that can see". Oh yea, and that internet thing, that was pretty sweet. Thanks DARPA.

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Jan 7th 2007 10:35PM]

This will probably be cheaper than developing the laser guided bullets that I've seen in FutureWeapons on the Discovery Channel. Though it would be nice to have laser guided bullets.

[OiD @ Jan 10th 2007 2:21PM]

i was thinking about this last night, ooh deja-vu moment ish

[Xenoterranos @ Jan 11th 2007 11:35AM]

Kill Robots for a living?